Threshing-machine.



0. THOMPSON.

THRESHING MACHINE. VAPPLICATION FILED SEPT 10, 1912.

1,191,853. I Patented July 18, 1916'.

0. THOMPSON.

THRESHIN GMACHINE APPLICATIOKFILEQSEPT-10' 1912- Patented July 18, 1916.

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THRESHING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILE-D SEPT- 10, 1912.

' WWW Patented July 18, 1916.

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'0. THOMPSON.

THRESHING MACHINE;

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 10. 1912.

1,191,853. Patented July 18, 1916." I 4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

3] wuewtoz Ora lzonymorz" Wikneoozo UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

03A THOMPSON, or EARL rAnK, INDIANA.

THRESHING-MACHINE.

' Specification of Letters Patent. Patented July 18, 1916.

- Application filed September 1912. Serial No. 719,613.

I To kill whom it mag concern Be it known that I, ORA THOMPSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Earl Park, in the county 'of Benton and -State,of Indiana, have invented new and useful Improvements in 'lhreshing-Machines, of which'the following is a specification. v This invention relates to threshing machines, and -it has particular reference to those parts of a threshing machine which may be describedas' constituting particularly the threshing or grain detaching mechanism and the preliminary separating mechanism. The present invention may to-some extent be described as being an improvement upon the device for which Letters Patent of the United States, No. 970,973, were issuedto me on Sept. 20, 1910.. i

The Letters Patent above referred to em bodied a concave. comprising a plurality of pivotally supported tooth-carrying bars and means for supporting and. adjusting said bars, the latter being used in connection with a slotted screen or plate through which the teeth were arranged to project.

- l One important. object of the present in-' vention isto construct the concave in such a manner that it will be practically impossible for any loose grain to be carried rear Ward with the straw, the separating action "latter being placed slantwise, thussubjecting the material gradually to the impact of the cylinder teeth instead of with violent preliminary blows, the result being that while the grain will be thoroughly detached,

the straw will not become broken upor bruised to the extent which is'ns'ually'the case. I

" Withthese and other ends in .view which will readily appear as. the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in the improved construction and novel arrange ent and combination of parts over which material fed-to the machine may which will be hereinafterfully described and particularly pointed out 1n the,ela1ms'.

In the accompanying drawings has been invention is to soconstruct and arrange the members const1- illustrated a simple and-preferred form 01:

the invention, it being,however, understood that no limitation is necessarily made to the precise structural details therein exhibited,

but that changes, alterations and inodifieations within the scope of the claims may be resorted to when desired.

' In :the drawings, Figure 1 is a verticalsectional viewof the front end of a thresh- 'ing machine constructed in accordance with the invention. l.ig. 2 is a bottom plan, view of the concave. Fig. 3 is a froiit'elevation' of the concave. Fig. 4 is a top' plan view of the: concave, screen. Fig. 5 is a side ele vation of one of the adjusting members of the concave bars. Fig-6 is 'a detail view in sectional elevation of part of the adjusting I mechanism. Fig. Tis a transverse sectional view of one of the concave bars. Fig. 7" is a. perspectiye detail view of the end of one of the concave bars. Fig. 8 is a transverse sectional new of one of the screen bars. Fig. 9. is a'longitudinal sectional view of a slightly modified form of the inventionx Fig. 10 is a detail top plan of a portion of .the concave screen used in the modified form I of the invention.' Fig. 11 iS\ a side elevation of one of the concave screen bars. Fig. 12 is a longitudinal "sectional view illustrating a"further modification. Fig. 13 is adetail top plan view of,the screen. and the movably supported fingers used in said modification showing also parts of the sides of the casing of the machine. Fig. 14 is a. detail side view showing the exteriorof the casing.

Corresponding parts in the several figures are denoted by like characters of reference.

The frame A' of the threshing machine supports for rotation a shai' t Bearrying the cylinder C' of ordinary cin'istruction. Supported for oscillation beneath the cylinder and cquidistantly from the axis of the cylinder shaft are a. plurality of bars D. These bars, for the sake of convenience and economy,'are composed each of a body portion -1 of cast iron and a reinforcing strip 2 of wrought iron or steel, said body and reinforcing strip being connected together by the shanks of the teeth3 which are extended therethrough and equipped with nuts- 4 "whereby the partsare assembled. The bars Dare" of approximately rectangular cross section having rounded upper front corners easily slide, irrespective of the position .of

downwardly, as will be clearly seen by reference toIFig. 1. The reinforcrng strips 2 are provided. with terminal downturned portionsjor extensions 6 which may be of any' desired shape and which may be located at any preferred angle with reference to. the bars, said extensions constituting cranks with which the rearward ends of the operating bars E may be pivotally connected. It

will be understood that as is the case in my former patent, the toothed bars are preferably arranged in groups, the cranks and operating rods of one group beingdisposed adjacent to the left si e of the' machine, while the cranks and o crating rods of the other group are disposed of which the two rear bars have cranks 'as sociated with operating rods at :the' left side 'of the'machin'e, while the two forward toothed bars have cranks associated with operatinl rods disposed adjacent to the right si e of the machine. I v

The operating rods E, as-will be seen from djac'ent to the right sideof the machine. Thus, in Figs.

' 1 and 2, four toothed bars have been shown,-

tilted or actuated independently of the recompanying drawings only four toothed bars have been shown, the number may,

to any extent. V

Suitably supported beneath the cylinder 0 is a grate composed of a plurality of suitably curved bars 29 which extend rearwardlythrough the casing of the machine within the scope of the invention, be varied & maining toothed bar's,'or each group of. l

' beneath-the cylinder and which coact to formthe.v supporting grate of the concave, said bars beingsufiiciently spaced to enable th eteeth '3 of the barsD to, operate there between. The grate bars are of triangularcross' section, the shape being that -of an isosceles triangle having a base of a Width cohsiderably exceeding the height, as bestv seen in Fig. 8.. The forward ends of the x grate ba s are curved -in the direction of the di'awings and esp'ecia'llyjby reference to? their len h to a. shape concentric with the Fig. 5, are each composed .of two parts or members 7 8, adjustably connected together by means of bolts 9 operating in slots 10 in one of the members, The front .member 8 is provided with a handle 11, and the rear member 7 is provided with a plate 12 riveted or otherwise secured upon said bar and aper tured at 13 for the passage of a.pivotal member 14, whereby it is connected by the crank member 6 of one of, the toothed bars.

The operating rods E,being each composed of twoadjustably 'conneoted'inembers, may be readily fitted-to various 'makesof machines for operation in the most advanta-- geous manner, "The front member 80f each operating rod is, provided; adjacent to, its

' front end with notches15 in-jthe.undersidej thereof for engagement withja rod-16 sup ported by means. of arms 17 depending. from a rock shaft F which is supported for rotation in suitable bearings .adjacent'to the front end of the machme,"said rock' shaft being composed of two independent portionsv 18 and 18', one of which is provided with a journal 19 engaging a socket in'the end of the other member. Each of .the members 18,

18 has a terminal operatin'g lever. or. handle 21 equipped with a stop. member 22. adapted to engage a segment rack 23 upon the frame of the machine, whereby the parts-may be secured in adjusted position. This construction, which is substantially identical with" that shown inmy former patent'above referred to, enables each toothed bar to be.

' axis of the cylinder carrying shaft, and the rear ends of said gratebars are substantially straight, as will be clearly seen in Fig. 1. The grate bars are assembled and supported in substantially parallel relation by means of-ross bars 30. which are of substantially the same cross section as the grate bars, butwhich are inverted so as to present their flat sides. uppermost to support the flat undersides of the grate bars with which they maybe conneeted by means of-rivets or in any suitable convenient manner. The cross bars 30, the ends ofwhich maybe secured upon the sides of the casing of the machine, arev disposed closelyadjacent to the forward edges'of the tooth carrying bars D, the articular reason for this disposition bein to prevent wet and coarse. straw which is liable .to'workdownward between the grate bars from striking the front edges of the toothed carrying bars D, reckoning'from the front ends of the grate bars 29 terof the machine, and said bars are firmly connected with a cross bar 27 with which is hingedly connected a curved plate 26 having slots 26 for the passage of the teeth of'the front bar, the rocking of which will thus not be interfered with. The hinged 'be employed, has a forwardly extending readily flange" or ledge upon which the feed table 24 may be supported so that said feed table will accommodate itself "to various adjustplate 26. It will be ments of the hinged seen that y proper adjustments of the hinged plate 26, the admission-of material between the cylinder and the front I end Ofwt-hQ concave may be facilitated or obstrpcted, as may bevdesired, and according to the nature and condition 'of such ma- It will also be obvious that this a'dterial. justable plate clearly coiiperates in connection with the tiltable tooth-carrying bars and with the grate bars 29 and supportingbars 30 of the concave to promote thmost advantageous results and that, while adjust- 'ment of the plate 26 is independent of that of the tooth carrying bars, the several parts coiiperateto one single end, namely, to admit the proper quantity of material to be operated upon by the threshing mechanism in such fashion as to avoid choking andto cause separation of the grain from the straw to be effected at the earliest possible moment. Hingedly associated with one of the cross bars 30, preferably the rearniost one, and

2 depending therefrom in the direction'o'f the grain pan G, is a. shield 31 which may be constructed of sheet metal in any suitable manner and which hangs loosely suspended for the purpose of reventing loose .kernels of grain being hur ed to "the rearward of the machine by the momentum of the'cylinder and thereby becoming mixed withthe straw again so as to necessitate subsequent separation; 'By the presence of this shield or curtain practically all the grain that is separated from the straw by the conjoint action of the cylinder and the toothed bars will become separated at this point and-- will not become subsequently mixed with the straw. v 7

Under the modified form of the invention illustrated in Figs. 9, 10 and 11 I connect.

with the grate bars 29 correspondingly shaped rearward extensions 35 having downwardly curved front. portions which are sub:

stantially concentric with the axis of a shaft 36 'su orting a beater 37 havingra'dially 'exten mg teeth 38. The extension bars'35' may be connected with the rear ends of the grate bars 29 by means including a crossbar 39 and rivets 40. By this construction the length of the grate member is greatly exten ed, thus lmproving and promoting he operation of separating. -he grain from t is 'straw' and coarse particle's, while the additional beating to whlch thestraw 1s sub "jectd will tend to loosen' any kernels 'of.

through which one end ofsaid rock'sha-ft extends, it being provided with a lever or handle 52-, whereby it may be actuated, said handle being capable of engaging'a rack segment-53, whereby the Qrock shaft may be retained in adjusted-position. The rock shaft carries a plurality of rearwardly extending 'arcuate' fingers 54 which extend'beneath a beater .55, which latter is supported for rotation in rear of the threshing cylinder 0, the axis of said heater being preferably disposed in a plane slightly above that of the axis of the threshing cylinder. It will be obs rved that the beater 555is in tended and ad. ptcd to coact with the fingers 54 in like manner, as the beater 37 in Figs. 9, 10 and 11 coacts with the grate bar extensions 35. By making the fingers adj ustable by mean of the rock -shaft,however, the said fingers may be disposed in the most advantageous position with reference to the beater, according to the volume andcharacter of strawthat is to be handled. Thus, if the volume'of straw is small,-the points bf the fingers will be disposed relatively close to the beater, as shown in Fig. 1.2 in full lines, while ifalarge quantity of straw is to be handled, and particularly if the straw is wet, the-fin ers may be shifted to the position-indicate in dotted lines ln sald figure, so that the straw while subjected tothe aetionof thebeater will not be ob.- structed, but will ass freely in a rearward direction. Itwil also be noticed that in Fig. 12 the beaterhas'beenset reasonably tically the length of the'machine in rear of' advanthe beater, thereby obtaining, all the tages of this improvement without wasting space in the separator.-

In the operation of this inventidn, it 'ispreferred that the toothed bars be disposed substantially as shown in Figs. 1 and 9,

that is, withtheteeth of the forward bar presented in an approximately horizontal position, while the upward slant of the teeth associated with the following bars is gradually increased until the teeth of the rear bar are presented Substantially upright. *The.

material that is fed to the machine will thus under the impact of the cylinder teeth slide or glance over the first teeth of the concave bars and willnot be chopped up or cut into fine pieces, as is the case when the teethrare all presented straight up or in alinement with the cylinder teeth. The straw in coarse form facilitates subsequent separation as the kernels are-more easily shaken out than they would be if the straw is cut up fine and chatfy. Fine straw is more compact, than coarse; hence, by keeping the straw coarse grain is saved; the separation is faeilitated and improved, and power is also saved, as it obviously takes power to cut up the straw. Time is also saved becausestfaw in coarse form is moreeasily handled and not so liable to waste in they process of handling, and, finally, it may be stated that coarse straw commands a better market pricethan fine 01- chalfy straw. a

With regard to'the grate, it may be pointedout that by reason of the shape of the bars 29, it will be impossible for kernels of grain to lodge upon the upper sides of said bars and to move rearwardly along with the straw, every kernel being'positively deflected downwardly into the grain pan. Any inq jury to the grate may be readily repaired, because it will be necessaryto replace only such part as is broken. The grate constructed as herein described may be readily placed in position or detached from the ma:

'chine. FinallyQit has been found in actual 5 practice that the grate is .practically incapable of being choked or obstructed, no matter what may be the condition of the material that is being operated upon, because the only tran verse obstructions are the cross bars 30-beneath the grate bars, and the latter are of such shape that practically all material will glide or move -freely in a real ward 'directionf. Even wetfor. coarse straw, which is notoriously dificult to handle, has

been found to pass freely over the grate c'onstructed' as herein" descrlbed.

By introducing'themodification illustrated I in. Figs. 9 to 14,-inclus"iv'e,the separating capacity of the machine greatly 1 increased without a material increase-in "the cost of manufacture.

In threshing r ce or is, ma

terially damaged by reason of the kernels the velocity of the cylinde i1 berated that the number of kernel,

. areduced number of parts are exposed for the kernels to strike against. j

U aged will be] greatly decreased 'bec'au'sej nothing except he toothed bars isjplaced in an-obstructing position crosswise of the machine, 'andhencerods E provide simple and effective means of rocking each tooth bar independently of the remaining tooth bars, thus enabling the several tooth bars to be set or adjusted in different positions independently of the remaining tooth bars. This is regarded as an important and valuable feature of the invention, without which it would be impossible to arrange the teeth of the several'bars at a different slant, as clearly indicated in Fig. 1 of the drawings, The importance of this arrangement has already been fully pointed out.

In the manufacture of the present invention it is desired to point out that the cost of the manufacture-is considerably reduced "as compared with other similar devices, as,

is claimed as new, is

1'. In a threshing mach1ne, a casing, a pivoted tooth carrying bar comprising a body portion of approximately rectangular cross section having a" rounded front corner and provided with journals at the ends adjacent to the, front edge thereof to enable such bar to be bodily tilted,and means for tilting the bar and for supporting it in adjusted position.

2. In a threshing machine, a tooth carrying bar-comprising a flat body portion having trunnions at the ends thereof adjacent to the front edge, a-fiat reinforcingbar extending the entire length of the body portion and having a crank at one end, and teeth having threaded shanks extending through the body portion and the reinforcing bar anjd provided, with'nuts whereby the parts are assembled together. 7

3.v In a threshing machme, a .grate com-' prising a plurality of longitudinal substantiallyparallel bars of triangular cross sectioinsaid bars being arranged with their flat faces downward to present oppositely 1nc'lined .top faces, and means'for assembling and supporting said bars, said bars being curved at-their forward ends to present a concave grate, in combination with tooth carryingbars supported beneath the grate bars and having teeth extending upwardly there- -,between, and a cylinder supported for cooperati'on with the'toothed bars. i

'. In a threshing machine, a cylinder,

tooth carrying bars mounted below the cylinder in concentric series for cooperation therewith and concave grate bars interposed between the cylinder and the tooth carrying bars, the teeth of the latter projecting between the grate bars, said grate bars being of triangular cross section with oppositely inclined faces exposed upwardly to prevent lodglnent thereon of grain detached by the joint action of the cylinder and the tooth carrying bars.

5. In a threshing machine, a concave including a plurality of pivotally supported toothed bars, means for adjusting the same and for supporting them at various adjustments, and a grate comprising a plurality of longitudinal substantially parallel bars of triangular cross section, and transverse connecting bars likewise of triangular cross section, said transverse supporting bars being disposed with their bases opposed to the bases of the longitudinal bars and adjacent to the front edges of the toothed bars.

(3. In a threshing machine, a grate comprising a plurality of suitably connected longitudinal bars of triangular cross section disposed in parallel relation and having m obstructed downwardly inclined upper faces and cross bars disposed beneath said longitudinal bars and connecting the same, in combination with rearward extensions detachably connected with the longitudinal bars and having curved portions, ,and a toothed beater supported for rotation above and cooperating with the curved portions of the extension bars.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

- ORA THOMPSON, lVitnesses:

CHESTER WINSHIP, JAMES BOLDMAN. 

